Monday, July 18, 2016

Fantasia 2016: For the Love of Spock

Adam Nimoy pays tribute to the life and career of his famous father in For the Love of Spock. Leonard Nimoy had been acting since the early 1950s, when he was cast by Gene Roddenberry to play the Vulcan Spock in the 1966 series Star Trek. Spock quickly became one of the most popular characters on the show. Nimoy would later move on to a thriving theatrical and movie career, though he also struggled with alcoholism and a troubled relationship with his son Adam.

Adam Nimoy began work on For the Love of Spock while his father was still alive and the film indeed features some footage of and narration by Leonard Nimoy. However, the film as a whole turns out to be an epitaph of Nimoy's career, covering his life before and after Star Trek. There is also a particular focus on Leonard's personal relationship with Adam, which had many ups and downs over the years, including a full-on estrangement in the mid-2000s. The film also features interviews with the entire surviving original series cast, as well as the cast of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot (along with Jason Alexander for some reason).

There is probably not much new that a hardcore Star Trek fan is going to learn about Leonard Nimoy while watching For the Love of Spock. However, the film does feature some interesting pieces of trivia, such as the origins of the Vulcan greeting. Overall, For the Love of Spock is a wonderful and emotional tribute to Leonard Nimoy and his most famous character.

About Sean Kelly -

Sean Patrick Kelly is a self-described über-geek, who has been an avid film lover for all his life. He graduated from York University in 2010 with an honours B.A. in Cinema and Media Studies and he likes to believe he knows what he’s talking about when he writes about film (despite occasionally going on pointless rants).